Will real estate agents become obselete?

[Account Closed]

Hey guys, I'm a new licensee and I'm just wondering will real estate agents face the same future as stock brokers or taxi drivers due to technology? I'd love to sell real estate and make a career out of it but with all the internet tools and more and more discount broker apps like Redfin will real estate agents even be around in 10-20 years? I look forward to hearing your responses!

[James Wise]

For quite some time now there have been many people saying sites like Zillow and Trulia were going to make the real estate agent as obsolete as the analog television or the travel agent.

I don't buy it. Either do the numbers, and as we all know numbers never lie.

Speaking of numbers, is zillow ever right when it comes to home values?

Ok maybe that last jab at zillow was a low blow, but how else could I work in this Kevin Hart meme?

In 2014 ONLY 9% of homes were sold for sale by owner. Of those measly 9% of FSBO sales 44% of them already knew the buyer. Zillow has been around for 10 years now. When is Zillow going to put the real estate agent out of business?

What percentage of homes were sold for sale by owner in 2004? The year before Zillow was founded. 14%!